Bitcoin News and Finance
Moneygram Halts Using Ripple Due to SEC Lawsuit Over XRP Cryptocurrency Skip to main content

Moneygram Halts Using Ripple Due to SEC Lawsuit Over XRP Cryptocurrency

Image
KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
Moneygram Halts Using Ripple Due to SEC Lawsuit Over XRP Cryptocurrency

Moneygram has announced that it has suspended using Ripple’s platform due to the lawsuit against Ripple Labs and its executives by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Last year, the company earned $50.2 million from Ripple for using the platform.

Moneygram Stops Using Ripple’s Platform

Moneygram International announced Monday that it has suspended trading on Ripple’s platform. The announcement came as part of the company’s earnings report for the fourth quarter and full year 2020. For the year 2020, Moneygram recorded total revenue of $1,217 million; its money transfer revenue was $1,105 million.

As part of its first quarter 2021 outlook detailed in the report, Moneygram wrote that it “is not planning for any benefit from Ripple market development fees in the first quarter,” adding:

Due to the uncertainty concerning their ongoing litigation with the SEC, the company has suspended trading on Ripple’s platform.

How Much Ripple Is Paying Moneygram

Moneygram has had a commercial agreement with Ripple since June 2019 to “use Ripple’s foreign exchange (FX) blockchain trading platform (ODL) for the purchase or sale of four currencies,” the company explained. The platform utilizes the XRP cryptocurrency. Its use by Moneygram is subsidized by Ripple.

In its earnings release Monday, Moneygram revealed that “In the first quarter of 2020, the company realized a net expense benefit of $12.1 million from Ripple market development fees.” In the fourth quarter, it generated “$8.5 million net benefit from Ripple market development fees of $9.2 million, partially offset by related transaction and trading expenses of $0.7 million.”

Meanwhile, its financial statements for the year 2020 and 2019 include Ripple market development fees of $50.2 million and $11.3 million, respectively. These figures were partially offset by related transaction and trading expenses of $11.9 million and $0.4 million, respectively.

Moneygram Cites SEC Lawsuit as Reason for Suspending Use of Ripple’s Platform

The SEC filed a lawsuit in December against Ripple Labs Inc., its CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Christian Larsen, charging them with conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering of the XRP cryptocurrency.

The SEC lawsuit alleges that “Much of the onboarding onto ODL was not organic or market-driven. Rather, it was subsidized by Ripple.” The regulator further described: “Though Ripple touts ODL as a cheaper alternative to traditional payment rails, at least one money transmitter … found it to be much more expensive and therefore not a product it wished to use without significant compensation from Ripple.”

Without naming the money transmitter in question, the SEC detailed, “The money transmitter has served that principal purpose for Ripple in exchange for significant financial compensation,” adding:

The money transmitter became yet another conduit for Ripple’s unregistered XRP sales into the market, with Ripple receiving the added benefit that it could tout its inorganic XRP ‘use’ and trading volume for XRP.

What do you think about Moneygram’s decision to stop using Ripple’s platform? Let us know in the comments section below.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...
Post a Comment
Read more

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...
Post a Comment
Read more

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
1 comment
Read more

Trezor and Wasabi to Implement a Coinjoin Mixing Scheme Into Hardware Wallets

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
This week, the hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor, and the non-custodial bitcoin wallet with a built-in Coinjoin mixer, Wasabi, revealed the two teams are working together to introduce Coinjoin mixing into hardware wallets. On Sunday, Wasabi tweeted “hardware wallet Coinjoins are coming next year with our friends at [Trezor].” Trezor Says Company Is ‘Working on a Coinjoin Implementation’ According to Trezor and Wasabi , a form of Coinjoin mixing is coming to hardware wallets in the near future. Coinjoin is a privacy-enhancing process that is leveraged to anonymize transfers on a blockchain. Basically, the scheme involves a number of parties transacting together and mixing their unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) in a pool to obfuscate the origin of all the funds. On Sunday, Wasabi’s official Twitter account tweeted about adding the privacy-enhancing scheme to hardware wallets. In the thread, someone asked Wasabi when they would release an “album,” and Trezor replied : “Hi, we’...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grand Theft Auto 6 to Feature a Fictional Cryptocurrency

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
One of the biggest franchises in the videogame industry, Grand Theft Auto, will feature in-game payments of “bitcoin” or another fictional cryptocurrency. Contractors will pay the player with this currency when they need to make anonymous, untraceable payments. This would constitute another push for Bitcoin awareness into mainstream media culture. Grand Theft Auto 6 to Feature in-Game Fictional Cryptocurrency Grand Theft Auto 6, one of the biggest gaming franchises, will feature an in-game cryptocurrency for payments according to insiders. The game will allow the player to accept cryptocurrency payments from big shot contractors who want to remain anonymous. Industry insider Tom Henderson leaked the news on Twitter earlier this week. He stated: I heard recently that in GTA 6, some missions will reward you in bitcoin instead of cash for completing some missions. The stock market feature will return, with the addition of a broker for different cryptocurrencies. If GTA 6 incorporate...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grayscale Considering 25 More Crypto Assets for Investment Products

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
Grayscale, the world’s largest crypto asset manager, is considering 25 more crypto assets for investment products. With the latest additions, the company’s list of coins under consideration has grown to 43. “The process of creating an investment product similar to the ones we already offer is a complex, multifaceted process,” said Grayscale. 25 Crypto Assets Added to List of Coins Under Consideration for Grayscale’s Investment Products Grayscale Investments announced Monday that it has updated its list of digital assets under consideration for 2022. Grayscale currently has $30.6 billion in net assets under management. The company explained that the “Assets Under Consideration” list comprises “some digital assets that are not currently included in a Grayscale investment product, but that have come to our attention as part of our exploration of this sector, and that our team has identified as possible candidates for inclusion in a future investment product.” Grayscale detailed: Wit...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cardano’s Cfund First Capital Goes to Israeli Fintech Startup Coti

KEBB | Official ₿itcoin News
This latest move to broaden cooperation between Cardano and Coti builds upon previous collaborations as the former seeks to upgrade its payment solution on top of the former’s expanding financial infrastructure. Strategic Investment Marks First Allocation for New Ecosystem Venture Fund One of the earliest proposed use cases for blockchain was the democratization of financial services, namely by reaching unbanked and underbanked communities worldwide. From remittance payments, access to credit facilities, or even just digital wallet solutions, advancements across the blockchain landscape have finally made this vision a reality. Among them, Coti is developing the enterprise-grade base layer for the rest to build atop of. Coti, which is short for “currency of the internet,” operates a fintech platform that supports stakeholder-driven payment solutions and empowers these stakeholders to digitize any currency. This aim aligns with Cardano’s ambitions of affordably and instantaneously ...
3 comments
Read more
Blogarama - Blog Directory